Is our personality fixed?

Question

or constantly changing? explain.

Answer 1

Basically, psychological theories often proposed that there are certain traits that people are born with, but you can vary how these traits are manifested through experience and effort. Some people develop strong will power and are able to mold how they appear to other people and they can change their outlook on life. Sometimes tragedy or certain life events change the way people live.
I think people can either wait for things to happen to them or effect change themselves. It is important to come to a good understanding of yourself, your likes and dislikes and what motivates you. If you have a good understanding of yourself, you know what can change and what cannot. It is difficult, but possible, to change.

Answer 2

I think certain aspects of it change, but some things are fixed. Sometimes shy people gain confidence and learn that they're really more comfortable as a social extrovert. Sometimes people are rowdy when they're young and then settle down as they get older, etc.

It's important to try to learn more about yourself and discover and utilize your natural strengths. Avoid behaving or trying to appear a certain way because it's what you feel is expected of you. Just do your best to be the best YOU you can possibly be.

You might find some answers if you learn about a theory called Socionics.

The basic idea is that there are 8 different aspects of reality, and each person is most inclined to see and understand some more than others. This can create conflicts between people because different people are seeing different aspects of the same situation and thus respond in different ways.

If you're interested, there are a few sites you can read up about it on.

My favorite is definitely http://socionics.us/. Other sources include: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/socionics... and http://the16types.info/. There are a couple of others whose names I won't mention that aren't all that good.

Answer 3

No, there is a huge possibility for our personality to change, the most common factor that affects our personality is our surroundings or environment. If Paris Hilton becomes a poor person, she would obviously have to live the life of a poor civilian, at first, she wouldn't know what to do because she's only accustomed to a luxurious life, but when she learns to adapt to a rough environment, her rich or gracious personality will become rough and obviously she'll be more cautious or more aware of her spending spree, everything about her will change even her whole act, she will be wiser and obviously smarter because a rough life makes people experience a lot of difficulties or Hardships, and through those adversities, she will learn a lot.

Answer 4

Wrong Joel G, Albert Einstein would have trouble because he's not a phycologist! But personalities are easily studied. You make it seem like it's really hard to explain, but it's not. People have professions of explaining personalities, it's nothing new. Get your facts straight next time.

Answer 5

Our personality just so happens to be one of the many things that even Albert Einstein would go mad trying to explain. The correct answer in my opinion would be that our personality is the same throughout our lives. The truth is many people confuse personality with their state of mind. They feel that if they are angry, their personality is aggressive.
Your personality is who you are, not even you can change it.

Answer 6

Personality is a combination of family, being a child, memories, who your married to and the struggles one endures as a married person with children. It is not fixed however, because the older one gets - the more (hopefully) understanding one has. Ergo - it is always changing!!

Answer 7

i agree with Joy R, its more sensible to believe that every individual is built onto a base of principles that define that person. What is built upon these principles may change over time, but the basic beliefs and morals for that person remain the same.

Answer 8

Personality is determined by maturity, peace or stress, your family, (as in genetics) and surroundings. Have a good day.

Answer 9

Our pastor was also nearby and had heard the whole thing. What shocked me more than the anger, was the pastor's remark. With a shrug and a weak smile he said "Ah well, that's just the way he is!" I could not believe that a pastor, who is meant to guide the flock entrusted to him by Jesus Christ, could pass over the incident with such a trite comment.

On the other hand, I was not surprised at the comment, which represents a very common view of Man, held by a large number of Christians. Basically, what happened was this - two Christians were talking about a quite inoffensive matter. One of them did not like the fact that the other person held a different view. Therefore, he simply let go with a torrent of abuse and stormed off in a temper. It was blatant sin! What the pastor did was to condone his behaviour by not treating it as sin and he made the mistake of assuming that a personality defect is something to be put up with. Is personality fixed at birth? If this is the case, then salvation does not have the life-changing power it claims to have!

I have not yet met a fellow Christian who believes a personality can be changed. It is thought that our personality is 'given'. So, if a man tends toward a flaring temper, then it is not sin, but 'personality'; if he tends toward exaggeration (bordering on lying), then that is not sin, but 'personality'. If he tends toward hurting people with barbed or sarcastic comments, then that is not sin, but 'personality'. And so the list of 'personality' defects can be extended forever!

What Christians attribute to a personality given by God is, in fact, just plain old sin. God does not give us flaws and sinful responses! We gain all these ourselves without prompting and with definite deliberation. And Satan is always there to add to them. Never fall into the trap of saying that a sinful response is a function of personality, which cannot be altered. Salvation gives us far more than a doorway to heaven...it gives us power and authority in the Name of Jesus Christ. It gives us a way to combat sin in our lives. God gives us a way to deal with sin. IN NO WAY does God expect us to remain in our sinfulness, no matter what guise it comes in. If something we think, do or say is sinful, then He expects us to get rid of it immediately.

And there is always a way to act righteously and not sinfully! Not sometimes - ALWAYS. We are told that when we are tempted, we are always given the opportunity and the way to negate the force of the temptation. So, there is never an excuse to be angry without reason, to be bitter, to be nasty or sarcastic etc. It is not our 'personality', but our sin, which causes us to display these attributes. No matter how long we have done things or how often we do them, they are still sins. Each sin is a single incident in God's eyes, even if it is consistent with our 'personality'. This means that each time we display a particular aspect of our personality, which can be called a flaw, we are committing a fresh sin, which must be accounted for. Yet, I know pastors who have abused people without so much as a blush! I know of people who are consistently vile and yet they are not challenged.

Sin ensures that we have blind spots. We refuse to call a sin what it really is because we are ourselves sinful and prone to the very same things. Instead, we make excuses and refer to it as 'personality'. That is, we express unbelief and hypocrisy. What else is it, when we preach the life-changing power of God and then allow all kinds of sins to masquerade as a God-given function?

This error is discovered, rotting, in all areas of life. For example, it is common practice to deify old people. When they are old, people are automatically excused the usual social graces. They can be as unkind, unloving, bitter, snappy, or nasty, as they wish. The excuse? "Oh, it's their age!"

The same kind of nonsense is applied to children. They can be as vile as they wish, without restraint. They can lie and cheat as often as they want. They can be violent and abusive to others and parents will just smile. The reason? They are "only children"! God expects even children to bear responsibility for their sins.

It does not matter if a person is very young or very old - if he is sinning, then he is sinning! Youth - or great age - does not provide a handy exclusion-clause. A person is vile, whether he is nine or ninety. There can be no allowances for age. Yes, we can say that young children have yet to learn and that old people can suffer certain problems, which can lead to the possibility of anti-social responses. But these are not excuses. Instead, armed with such knowledge, we should aim to put right what is wrong and point out what is sinful. We must never let it go. When we do that, a sinful response becomes a part of our personality and becomes more stubborn. Human beings will always get away with whatever they can get away with! And the longer they do it, the weaker becomes the conscience.

Personality is not a single factor. 'Personality' includes our physical, mental and spiritual characteristics....how we walk, talk and think; how we dress, eat and write. Everything we ever do or say or think is combined in the thoughts of others; to others, this mixture of things constitutes our 'personality'. So, how we are in life and how we respond, is our 'personality'. Obviously, if this is what it is, it also includes sin. Personality defects or flaws (i.e. a bad temper), are the result of temptations which have not been faced and thwarted, but which have been succumbed to and completed. That is, instead of applying prayer and a true Christian response when we are tempted (i.e. to be hateful), we simply do whatever our 'old man' dictates and we sin. When we constantly respond in this way to the same kinds of temptation, we build up a formidable mass of sin which is noticed by others and which they call our 'personality'. Sin is sin! Personality CAN be changed and MUST be changed when error is prevalent, otherwise our witness suffers. There is such a thing as a Christian personality...it is found in the Christian who acts out his belief in the Lord and obeys His commands. He will still sin, but when he does so, he will repent and change, willingly. When this is an ongoing process, then what was previously a sin-centred and obviously flawed personality, will become more Christ-like.


---oOo---

Answer 10

its genetic. you are stuck with it.